Veteran Hotel Executive Matt Avril to Join Zentila Board of Directors

May 08, 2013

ORLANDO, Fla. – May 8, 2013 – Zentila, the first online sourcing, booking and tracking solution for meetings and conventions, today announced that veteran hotel executive and former Hotel Group President of Starwood Hotels, Matthew Avril will join its Board of Directors. The announcement was made by Zentila Founder and ZEO Mike Mason. Avril is also an investor in the two-year-old company.

“We are excited to have Matt join the Zentila Board, as his contributions will enable us to further differentiate ourselves in the market,” said Mason. “We created Zentila to bring a win/win technology solution to meeting planners and hotel sales offices. Matt’s industry relationships and knowledge will provide us with insight to help corporate meeting planners and hotels work together more effectively.”

A 20-plus-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Avril recently retired as the President of the Hotel Group at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. In that position, he oversaw Starwood’s worldwide sales organization as well as the global hotel operations for Starwood's nine hotel brands and approximately 1,100 properties in more than 100 countries, representing system revenues of approximately $16 billion. During the course of his 30 year career, Avril has proven experience across a wide range of operational, financial and investment oriented activities and was instrumental in effecting numerous transactions involving corporate acquisitions, financing opportunities and legal/business issue resolution.

 “Un-bookable leads, or ‘RFP Spam,’ contributes to unproductive time for hotel sales forces globally,” said Avril.  “ Zentila represents an  ideal solution by helping hotels sell effectively while improving the experience and efficiency for meeting planners.”

 “Zentila’s experienced management team is passionate about the meetings industry, and I share their enthusiasm for providing this new solution.” Avril said. “I am delighted to be a part of this dynamic group working to effect change in this critical way.”

About Zentila

Based in Orlando, Fla., Zentila is the brainchild of hospitality industry veteran Mike Mason, who identified a need to ease the pain of planning meetings.  The answer?  Zentila, which provides meeting planning solutions for companies and individuals through a free-to-use, super-intuitive strategic meetings management SaaS solution. User-friendly planning and administration tools add transparency to company meeting activities, reducing risk and the costs associated with sourcing and contracting meetings and venues. Zentila features the most up-to-date hotel inventory, with descriptions and images for every meeting hotel in the country. Unique search filters and social elements make Zentila’s meeting hotel search engine the smartest on the planet.  For more information, visit www.zentila.com or call (407) 656-5683.

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